Olsen ducked into a fighter's stance, fists up. He jerked his head back and forth and scrunched his face into a frightened grimace.

"I don't think he likes to get hit," Olsen said. "You can see it" in his face.

Ward and Mikkel (rhymes with nickel) Kessler fight Saturday night at Oracle Arena for Kessler's WBA championship belt. It's also a first-round bout in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a two-year tourney among the world's top six super-middleweights (168 pounds).

Ward is undefeated (20-0), but this fight is a big step up. He has been brought along carefully since winning the 178-pound gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and this will be his toughest opponent by far. Kessler is the tournament favorite and about a 2-1 favorite over Ward.

Kessler, Denmark's greatest sports hero, is 42-1, with 32 KOs. His last nine fights have been world-title bouts.

On Saturday, the world learns whether Andre Ward, pride of the Bay Area, is truly world-class, or merely a pretty face waiting to be carved up by a real fighter.

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Can Ward take a punch? We'll find out

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From the beginning, Ward and Kessler have taken the high road, complimenting each other, two gentlemen looking forward to a rousing contest.

On Monday, at King's Gym in Oakland, the civility began to unravel.

When I told Ward what Olsen had said about him not liking to get hit, his friendly demeanor turned cold. Ward said that critics have always questioned his toughness, his ability to take a punch. He referred to his win over Edison Miranda in May.

On Wednesday, the two camps met for a public news conference in front of Oakland City Hall and, apropos of the weather, there was a frost in the air.

Ward's trainer and mentor, Virgil Hunter, took the microphone and said that though he's impressed with Kessler's toughness, he has noticed that the Dane has no ability to make adjustments when his ring strategy breaks down, and that after Kessler's one loss, his camp made whiny excuses about a broken hand and a bad back.

Kessler promoter Wilfried Sauerland fired back his assurance that this time, "There won't be any stories about broken hands or anything like that."

When I asked Kessler about Ward not liking to be hit, he said, "Nobody does. But there's a difference. When he gets hit, he can't concentrate. You need to be under control all the time."

Kessler fights with a straight-ahead European style - upright stance, both hands up, little or no weaving/bobbing, very technical. Ward fights American style, with more lateral movement, head movement and footwork.

Kessler "fights in a box," Hunter said. "He's great in a box, but get him out of that box and he's in trouble."

It's all more than simply trash talk. Ward is on the defensive. He hasn't lost, but forever hovering over him is the image that he's soft.

Ward said opponents see him win seemingly on cruise control, but "get in the ring and it's something different. Edison told me after our fight, 'I thought it was going to be a lot easier.' And I've heard that my whole career." He said a future opponent would see him fight, and say scornfully, " 'Oh, man, that's Ward? I'm gonna get him.' It looks easy. But in the ring, it's totally different."

Adding to the tension Wednesday, Kessler's promoters threatened to pull out of the fight if the state Athletic Commission doesn't change the judges - two of the three assigned are Californians. Super Six contracts call for two judges and a referee "from a neutral territory," and Kessler's team said the WBA might withdraw title-bout status, according to the Associated Press.

"If it stays like this, there definitely won't be a world title fight here Saturday," Sauerland said from the podium, to hoots and jeers from the crowd in the City Hall plaza.

As the event was ending, Ward co-promoter Antonio Leonard shouted from the podium, "Shut the airports down! Shut the bus stations down! Close off all the exits! They trying to get outta here!"

But from the look on Kessler's face, he isn't looking for a way out. He's looking for a route to Ward's chin. And Ward is eager to lure Kessler out of his robot-box. The niceness is officially over.